Saturday, 17 March 2012

KS Help Notes_Invites 02_Inviting Users

INVITING USERS TO TAKE AN ASSESSMENT

Administering the KS tools is a pretty straightforward process. The system is web-based, so there is no software to install, maintain and upgrade. In general, it's a low-impact system, from an IT administration point of view.

Let's take a look at the process for inviting users to take a test. There are three different options, depending on your requirements. Let's review each one:

Option one – Inviting a small number of users to an assessment

Step one
Select the test you want your user(s) to take, from your library. Each test has a small 'envelope' icon, next to the test name.

Click on the envelope icon, which takes you to the test invite page. Your selected test will automatically appear in the test list dropdown.

Alternatively, you can select the Invites link, from the top navigation bar of your dashboard. (You'll end up in the same place). However, bear in mind that if you do use the top navigation route (rather than the envelope icon next to a specific test title) then your required test will not automatically get selected in the dropdown menu. (It presents your test library in A-Z order. You need to select the required test from the dropdown list of titles.

Step two
Enter the email, first name and last name of your test taker(s) in the fields provided. You can also capture user status, i.e. employee, interviewee, student, etc. Click Add to confirm your candidate's details.

Step three
Decide on your invite text. You have a couple of different options for customising your invites. You can either add custom text on a per invite basis (by overwriting the default text in the Your message box each time), or alternatively, go to Settings > TestInvite to create your own personalised message.

Step four (optional)
You can set an expiry date on your test invites. After this date has passed, your users will no longer be able to access this test session. If they haven't completed their test before the expiry date, you will need to edit the expiry date or issue a new invite.

Step five
OK, so you have completed the following steps; selected the correct test title from your library; entered all your user data; edited your invite text; maybe set an expiry date. The final step is to hit the Send Invite button. This step prompts the following routines to take place, in the background: it generates your users' profile(s) on the KS system, adds them to your user list (in the Users page of your dashboard), creates a username/password for each user and sends out their individual test invite emails.

You can view a list of sent invites and completed tests on the Invites > History page.

Option two – Inviting a group of users to an assessment

You have the option to batch invite larger groups of users to take a test (provided they are all taking the same one). Rather than entering their user details one at a time, as outlined in the process above, you can invite them all at once, from the Users section of your dashboard.

Step one
Once you have built your user list, check the boxes next to the names of your invitees and hit the Invite selected users button at the top of the page.

Step two
This takes you to the test invite page and pre-populates your user fields. It is important to remember to select the test you want from the library dropdown at the top. The default list displays A-Z. Test ID numbers are also included, so you can easily identify which test you want from your library.

It's not always possible for users to access a test invite via email. For example interview candidates, or in-house candidates using a training room, where access to their email account is not available.

For this reason, you will occasionally need to set up a test session, straight from a web browser. Here’s how it works:

Step one
Select the Assessment link, on the dashboard landing page.

Step two
Enter your KS admin User name and Password and hit Log in to access your account.

Step three
Select your account from the dropdown menu (for firms with multiple accounts) and select the required test title from your library list. This list includes KnowledgeSmart OTS (off the shelf) titles and self-authored tests, displaying in A-Z order. Test ID numbers are also included, so you can easily identify which test you want from your library.

Step four
This is where the candidate takes over. They enter their name and email address, select their status (employee or interview candidate) and proceed to the next page.

Step five (optional)
You have the option to present candidates with an additional information page, where they can submit a brief user profile.

Step six
Here is the test start page. This is the same page users’ see when they click on the test URL in their email invites. From here, the process for taking a test is the same, irrespective of how they were invited. When they have read their test instructions and downloaded their sample data files, they hit the green Start button to begin their test session.